Originally Posted by screeton

It can be handled in a proactive, polite manner. Many of the people out of line are newbies who have not flown often and do not understand the complex math required to count from 1 to 60 while also correlating it to the alphabet A-B-C and also correlating geographically to a large silver pole with numerals on the pole. Regular flyers should be happy to assist in their understanding.... you are A-41? Your position is on the other side of the pole and back about 10 people, etc. I do the reverse also... some weeks back I had an elderly lady standing next to me when I was A-58. When I asked her number, she was something like A-25, but somewhat clueless and obviously nervous about the entire boarding process. I told her she had a much better number than mine and helped get her in the right place. She was most appreciative and I felt that I had done my "good deed" for the day (or perhaps the month, LOL). For those who are deliberately out of line because they want to cut ahead of someone, as the OP is suggesting, they particularly need assistance to be moved into the proper location. Just consider yourself a "junior" gate agent.